Bettman has no news, no updates on new arena during Calgary visit

Gary Bettman opened his Western Canadian swing with positive news in Vancouver, that their city and Rogers Arena would be hosting the 2019 National Hockey League draft.

Then, he dropped into Edmonton, patting them on the back for the job well done on the progress of the Ice District, the heart being the palatial Rogers Place.

Then, he arrived in Calgary.

“There’s nothing else I can tell you,” said the commissioner of the NHL, speaking to media prior to Friday’s game between the Flames and New York Rangers at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Bettman, of course, was referring to the ongoing discussion in the city regarding the oldest building in the 31 — soon to be 32 — team loop.

On his last stop, he met with sponsors, season ticket holders and team brass but made it clear prior to his arrival that a meeting with Mayor Naheed Nenshi was not on his agenda.

The smoke has since cleared from the bombshell that Ken King, president and CEO of Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp., dropped in the fall — that the ownership group was ending its quest for a new arena. Nenshi responded, saying the city had a fair offer on the table and the heart of their discussions with the Flames had been regarding cost-sharing.

King fired back, saying their meetings had been “spectacularly unproductive.”

Over a month later, Nenshi was re-elected for a third term and maintained his vision for an entertainment and cultural district in Victoria Park on the eastern edge of Calgary’s Beltline neighbourhood.

Since then? Crickets.

On both sides.

“I talk to Ken (King) and (Flames principal owner) Murray (Edwards) on a regular basis,” Bettman said. “There’s nothing going on. That’s been the case since the summer and I don’t foresee any change. I completely concur with the position the Flames have assumed because I don’t see any point either in there being any talks. They are no longer pursuing a new arena or a new development because they don’t see any prospect of that happening on any terms that make any sense.”

When asked if Bettman would be willing to re-open discussions with the City of Calgary, he indicated that it would be up to the Flames and added that he supported their stance on the issue.

“They tried,” he said. “They thought they were on a path. They actually had a proposal on something akin to Edmonton that would take a part of the city and transform it, part of the city where the land is unusable. But, ultimately, nothing had traction.”

On Friday, the mere topic of the arena debate and absence of news nearly left the NHL commissioner at a loss for words.

He reiterated his presence in the city was not to campaign for a new NHL building but wouldn’t shy away from the topic, specifically what his message was to Flames’ season ticket holders and fans.

“The same thing the Flames have said — we’re going to stay here in this building and do the best we can,” Bettman said. “This building is the oldest in the league and there’s no prospect of it being replaced. So, I don’t know. I’m not in the business of constructing buildings.”

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in Calgary on March 15, 2017.

Built for the 1988 Winter Olympics, the Saddledome is the second-oldest barn in the league outside of Madison Square Garden that underwent an estimated $1.22-billion CDN renovation in 2013. Similar to his visit in the fall, Bettman was asked to clarify the building’s downfalls.

“This building is going to be 40 years old,” he said. “They don’t build buildings like this anymore, in terms of amenities for fans, in terms of opportunities to generate revenues, for the players. I was told (Thursday) that there were 27 acts, some of them multiple days, that have played in Edmonton that haven’t played here. That goes to the quality of life in the city. That’s an indication of the quality of the building. They can turn over that building in a matter of hours.

“This building in its time was as work of art. Its time has long passed.”

And that means what, exactly, in the larger scheme of things?

“It’s clear this is the oldest building in the league,” Bettman said. “It’s clear the team needs a new building. By the way, Calgary is a great market, great fans here but the building is as an important a factor as anything else. The team’s competitive situation, financial stability is also being impacted each season they stay here. This used to be a top-10 team. Calgary is one of our great markets.”

Bettman said the Flames used to be a franchise that wrote cheques for revenue sharing and, for the last few years, “they’ve been receiving cheques.”

“And those cheques are getting bigger which means the situation financially continues to deteriorate,” he said. “That will, ultimately, affect the competitiveness of the organization I suppose. But they have said the organization, as the Flames, they’re going to do the best they can, for as long as they can.”

Upon returning from the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Nenshi said Calgarians should expect an update on a potential Olympic bid for the 2026 Olympics in the next two weeks. The Calgary Bid Exploration Committee estimates hosting the 2026 Olympic Games would cost $4.6-billion (approximately half of which would be covered in revenue) and the International Olympic Committee recently toured Calgary’s sports facilities which were built for the 1988 Games.

Bettman was asked about the potential bid creating leverage to fund a new building.

“I don’t know what the Olympics, the IOC view of this building is for the Olympics in 2026,” he said. “It’s way too hypothetical, and it doesn’t involve us.”

So, to recap Bettman’s visit to the Saddledome: no threats, no news, no debate and no updates.

“Again, I’m not here to campaign,” he said. “Everything I’ve said is in response to a question. I would have been happier if no one asked me a building question because, frankly, I don’t think I said anything new today. And I apologize for that because that means I was probably a little boring.”

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